Conventional double ended key rings typically employ a pair of key holders that are located at opposite ends of a central housing. With such a key ring, keys desired to be retained on a single device may be segregated and placed on one of the key holders, which is removably secured to the key ring, thereby enabling the user of the keys to carry many keys while reducing the amount of fumbling and frustration when trying to locate the desired key or when trying to remove selected keys from the key ring. For example, automobile keys may be placed on one end of the key ring and house keys may be placed on the other end of the key ring to keep those keys separate and easily accessible. Examples of conventional double ended key rings are illustrated in MacDonald U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 271,443 of Nov. 22, 1983, and Des. 285,987, of Oct. 7, 1986.
Bridwell U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,907 discloses a typical prior art double ended key ring which employs a pair of gapped, looped-like members to hold keys. The loopedlike members are located at opposite ends of a tube or central housing, and are connected to one another by a biasing spring located within the tube. This biasing spring connection inexpensively allows removal of the keys from the looped-like members; however, a constant force is necessary to overcome the force of the biasing spring. Further, keys can only be individually removed through the gap of each looped-like members and thus, those keys can be easily lost once they are removed.
Another problem with the type of key ring disclosed by Bridwell is that the biasing spring can extend from the interior of the housing and thus is visible. A key ring which overcomes this aesthetically undesirable visibility utilizes a hook-like element having an external gapped, ring portion and an internal elongated shank portion that projects into an opening within a housing. A coiled spring is positioned about the shank with the coils located entirely within the housing. The housing has an inverted, saddle-like seat at one end thereof and the spring biases the external ring portion so that the ring portion is retracted into the inverted, saddle-like seat. The saddlelike seat has a pair of side walls which enclose the gap that is defined in the ring portion to prevent keys from being removed through the gap when the ring portion is retracted within the seat. This key ring is described in Nadel U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,951. While the key ring described by Nadel conceals the biasing mechanism, a constant force is still required to expose the gap of a ring portion and to remove the desired key.
Scungio U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,543 is directed to a double ended key ring having a pair of opposed, spaced key holders that are movably connected to a central housing having a pair of seats for the key holders located at opposite ends of the housing. Similar to the key holder arrangement of the Nadel patent, the key holders disclosed in the Scungio patent are biased to retract into one of the respective seats to prevent removal of the keys from the key holders. In order to remove a key retained on such key holders, the key holder is pulled away from the housing to expose the gap.
The majority of the above described double ended key rings are structured to hold keys individually and thus, keys can only be removed one at a time from the gapped ring portions. Thus there is a need for a key ring having a fast, reliable releasing mechanism which is also stylish and inexpensive. Furthermore, there is a need for a key ring having means for exposing a gap so that keys can be removed from the key ring without interfering with an operating key, such as an ignition key in a vehicle or the operation of the vehicle.